Business Opportunity - Competition - Added Value


Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6

Lesson Objectives

  • Know the reasons you would need to look at the competition when setting up a business
  • Understand why new businesses need to analyse strengths & Weaknesses of their competitors
  • Be able to analyse the competition for a specific market


Starter (5 minutes)

Write a definition of competition on the wall



Keywords (5 mins)

Competition - other business offering a similar service/product
Product range - A range of similar products made by a business, such as the food offerings in KFC
Brand - A named product which customers associate or identify with
Brand image - the idea/image that customers have in their mind about the brand
Added Value - the increased worth that a business creates for a product
USP (Unique Selling Point) - a characteristic of a product that makes it different from others in the market

Information/Discussion (10 mins)


Analysing the competition

A new business should look at the following points and analyse the offerings across their competitors

  • Product range
  • Quality
  • Design
  • Selling experience
  • After-sales service
  • Price
  • Brand image
  • Suppliers

Strengths & Weaknesses
From the analysis of the competition a business owner should be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses - these will help the business owner see any gaps or saturation in the market.

Task (15 mins)


Identify the strengths & weaknesses of McDonalds & Islanders

Write them on 2 lists...........

Information/Discussion (10 mins)


Added Value


Any business needs to add value to their product or service. The source of the added value can vary -

  • Quality
  • Design & formula
  • Convenience
  • Speed & quality of service
  • Branding
  • Unique Selling Point

The importance of added value

It is the added value that becomes the profit margin - the difference between the cost of the product/service and the selling price.

Task (10 mins)

Identify the added value in the following brands

  • Thorntons Chocolates
  • McDonalds
  • The AA
  • Nike
  • Amazon


Plenary (5 mins)

What sort of Added value would Starbucks bring to Canvey Island?